Excerpt
Before You Meet Your Future Husband
Day 1
What Your Heart NeedsTricia
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Psalm 37:4
When I was seven years old, I wanted a Barbie paper doll book with cute two-dimensional clothes to punch out. I desperately wanted it, so I prayed. I had heard a lot of Bible stories, and I knew, if God could heal a blind man, He could make a paper doll book appear. I told God that He could drop the book in my closet and I’d keep it just between Him and me.
I prayed as long and hard as a second grader could. But the next day, when I opened the closet door, the paper doll book wasn’t there. How could that be? Wasn’t God supposed to answer my prayers?
A few weeks later, my birthday arrived. Guess what I received? Yes, the paper doll book, among other things.
From that experience, I learned a lot about God and myself. Even though my thought process and prayers were immature, I knew I could turn to God with the desires of my heart. But I learned that sometimes prayers aren’t answered in the ways we want. As I grew older, I realized I didn’t need to bargain with God or expect Him to be some sort of magician who makes whatever I want appear (no, not even in my closet). Instead, it’s okay just to share what’s on my heart.
Father God knows the desires of our hearts, and He will handle those desires in tender ways. Sometimes He will ask us to wait, knowing the time isn’t right. Other times He will turn our hearts to different desires.
Pause and consider what you truly desire in terms of your future husband. Make a list. Then look at that list and pray about those desires.
Is it hard to trust God with your desires? The more you delight yourself in the Lord, the more you’ll understand how good God’s heart is toward you. As you delight in Him, your trust in Him will grow. As you pray, you’ll see that His answers are for good, even if they are different from what you wanted.
God cares about your desires, but mostly He cares about you. He knows when—or if—your future husband will come and how that person will be the man you truly need, someone your heart will also desire.
What desires of your heart do you need to turn over entirely to God, especially concerning your future husband?
Father God,
You know the desires of my heart. Could You help me trust You with those desires? I know that what I want now might not be what’s best for me. So guide me to delight in You. Enable me to trust that You know the perfect gift of a future husband for me and that You will bring him to me at the ideal time. Help me trust that You will give me what I desire or provide me with someone or something better.
I ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Day 2Opening Your Heart
Robin
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
Human nature yearns to know and to be known. This heart-to-heart closeness infuses a marriage with a beautiful, one-of-a-kind intimacy and love. If we want to get to know someone, we have to be willing to open up to them, to receive them completely. We need to spend time with them and let them get to know us at the same level that we’re coming to know them.
God made it possible for us to experience the same heart-to-heart closeness with Him through His Son. Think of it! The Creator of this universe wants an intimate relationship with you. He is waiting for you to come to Him. It starts when you open your heart and receive the gift of His love through Jesus.
A few months ago, I was at a wedding held in a beautiful chapel on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. It was a gorgeous day. The chapel’s tall glass windows provided extraordinary views of the sea for miles. The flowers, the music, and the sunshine all filled the space with the sense that we were part of a sacred moment.
The minister entered and took his place. The groom followed with a look of patient expectation. The congregation rose and watched as the radiant bride came down the aisle to join her groom. I couldn’t hold back the silent tears. It was all so beautiful. I knew their love story well. I had prayed for her and for him for years. They were finally becoming man and wife.
Their defining moment at the altar when she said “I do” took my breath away. I felt as if I was witnessing an earthly representation of the sacred union that happens between Christ Jesus and us when we open our hearts to Him. God has sent an invitation to each of us to come to “the wedding feast of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:7). He even calls us “the bride” in the Bible, and Jesus is called “the bridegroom.”
Picture yourself as a glowing, desired bride. You are walking down the aisle. Your heavenly Father stands before you. Next to Him stands Jesus, who has paid the ultimate price to make this union possible.
God turns to His only, beloved Son and says, “Jesus, do You take this woman to be Your bride and love her forever?” Looking you in the eye with a heart overflowing with pure love, Jesus says, “I do.”
Now God turns to you. “My daughter, do you take Jesus to be your bridegroom to love forever?”
And you say . . .
What do you say? How would you respond? At such a moment, face-to-face and heart-to-heart with the Prince of Peace, would you say, “Umm, I don’t know. Let me think about it”? Would you say, “I want to try out some other love interests first, and then maybe I’ll come back to You later”?
Or would you open your heart and say, “I do”? Would you let the intimacy and the never-ending love relationship begin with the One who will never leave you and will always love you?
If you haven’t yet said “I do” to Jesus the Bridegroom, are you ready to receive Him as your Lord and Savior right now? If you have already said “I do” to the Lord, in what ways are you becoming closer in your relationship with Him?
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for loving me unconditionally and for inviting me into Your family. Forgive me for all the wrong I’ve done. I want to receive the gift of Your love through Jesus. I open my heart to Him now and promise to spend the rest of my life growing in love with Him. I want to be with Jesus every moment, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. Best of all, I know that I will be with Him forever.
I pray this in the name that is now written on my heart. Amen.
Day 3Growing Peace in the Garden of Your Heart
Tricia
May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace.
Numbers 6:24–26
Have you ever visited the house of a grandparent, aunt, or uncle, and they’ve called out as you left, “Be safe and drive carefully”? Of course, we plan to be safe. We have no plans to drive recklessly. These common phrases aren’t directions to follow. Instead, they can be considered blessings. Our loved ones want us to be safe, and their words are a send-off with hope for good things.
Similarly, in the Bible, God’s priests prayed blessings over His people. First, the priests taught God’s children about His truth and laws. And then, when the people went on their way, the priests offered a blessing as a holy send-off, like the one on the previous page.
The priests prayed for God’s protection over the people, but more than that, the priests wanted the people to understand God’s love and favor. It’s only when we embrace the love and approval of God that peace comes.
Just as plants need good soil, water, and sun to grow, peace grows in our hearts when we understand how much God loves us. Peace comes when we feel blessed and protected. Peace comes when we know that God unconditionally offers us grace and forgiveness. These things feed our souls and help peace grow.
Whenever you feel worried that your future husband will never come or that he won’t be everything you hoped for when he does come, you can turn to God. Peace comes when we understand God’s smile on us and our lives.
Yet, to understand God’s smile, we have to look up. We have to lift our eyes from the troubles around us and turn to Him. God doesn’t just like us—He adores us. Knowing that the God of the universe looks on us with such tenderness should fill us with peace in all things.
How can you remind yourself to look to God and seek His peace instead of letting the worries of this world claim your attention?
Father God,
I pray that You will bless me and protect me. I pray that You will smile on me and be gracious to me. I pray that You will show me Your favor and give me Your peace. I pray that I will learn to lift my eyes daily to You and truly understand Your love for me. Help me, Lord, not to be distracted by the worries of this world but instead to put my trust in You.
I pray the same for my future husband, and I ask all this in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Relax, everything’s going to be all right; rest, everything’s coming together; open your hearts, love is on the way!
—Jude 2, msg
